Welcome to Cool Native!
So glad to meet you! Please grab a cup of your favorite 'joe', pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. Stay for as long as you like, check us out and be sure to stop back often to view our latest additions. Better yet - Bookmark our site!
Featured Articles
Where did the time go? Summer is officially here. Our gardens are taking shape and the heat is on - 93˚F today - in the shade! I've been taking several college courses, in addition to my full time job, which unfortunately, has taken my weekend writing for Cool Native and turned them into weekends spent writing term papers!
Luckily, I have gotten a few spare moments to work in my garden. This year I planted red and black raspberry bushes from bare root stock. Other than the wild black raspberries that I used to pick on our farm as a kid, I have very little experience with berries. I'll let you know how things progress.
Last year was one of the worst years we have had for Japanese Beetles
and I'm crossing my fingers that this year will be better. This time,
I'm a little more educated about the beetles - out of necessity, I
guess you could say. I have summarized what I learned and
posted it for your information. You can view my article by clicking here. I also included a link to a PDF document by the USDA that provides
everything you need to know about this voracious insect.
I'll leave the postings below for some of my past articles, but will hopefully be replacing them soon with new - one more month of classes and then I have a month and one half break that I can devote to Cool Native. Yeay!
Meanwhile, consider digging into my archives. Two noteworthy articles in there include an article on Hostas and another on Daylilies. Be sure to check them out!
This past fall's articles included the following:
If your landscaping just doesn't measure up, check out Planning for All Season Color & Texture, where guest author and Landscape Designer Sarah Cavanaugh offers insightful advice and suggestions on how to improve your landscape's appearance.
Sarah joins us again with her article, Planting Bulbs - Fall
Labors Yield Spring Flowers, providing
helpful tips on putting our energy to use this fall planting
LOTS of bulbs
now for BIG color next spring!
Looking for a better way to garden in a tight space? Why not try raised beds. Gardening with raised beds offers numerous benefits over traditional gardening. Think "inside the box" this time!
Turning our sights indoors, we'll discuss the Boston Fern. Not the finicky, temperamental houseplant you may have thought, Boston Ferns offer graceful beauty and a forgiving nature.
Article Archives
Don't forget to check out the Archive links at the bottom of each of our pages. All of our previous articles are found in these archives! (Archived articles can also be accessed through our Site Map.)
Once again, welcome to Cool Native! Thanks so much for visiting!